Four of us met at the Market 32 in Burlington at 4:00 AM to set out for our ascent of Mt. Colden in the Adirondacks. We met up with two other people at the Adirondack Loj and began our ascent just before 6:30 AM.

Our route choice for today was an out and back to Mt. Colden via the Lake Arnold Trail. The original plan when the hike was scheduled was a loop through Avalanche Pass, but due to a massive landslide in the area which has closed the trail, we had to adapt.

Mt. Colden via Lake Arnold is a 12.5 mile hike with a little more than 3000 feet of vertical. The approach, by Adirondack standards, is fairly moderate which made for a relatively easy, though long outing. 

The impacting variables today were clouds and water. Despite ongoing drought conditions in Vermont, the trail was wet and muddy with standing water throughout. And while we had clear views to the Colden summit from Marcy dam entering and exiting, we had no such luck at the summit. Clouds persisted for most of our summit time with occasional thinning. That said, the outing was fun and the fall colors which were more prevalent in New York made up for the diminished views up high.

Participants: Tyler Sandberg, Michael Mortelliti, Jill George, Julie Cimonetti, Clayton Cameron and Chris Luczynski (Trip leader).